Ta-hsüeh Mountains, Wade–Giles romanization Daxue MountainsChinese (Pinyin) Daxue Shan or (Wade-Giles romanization) Ta-hsüeh Shan , Pinyin Daxue Shan, (“Great Snow Mountains”), also called Szechwanese Alps, or Sino-tibetan Tibetan Chain, great mountain range in the west of Szechwan western Sichuan province, southwestern China. These enormously high and rugged mountain chains mountains were formed around the eastern flank of the ancient stable block of the Tibetan Plateau of Tibet; their formation occurred during successive foldings that took place in the final phase of the Jurassic mountain-building process (orogeny) of the Jurassic Period (roughly 200 to 145 million years ago), as well as during the Cretaceous Period , (145 to 65 million years ago) and during the Himalayan earth movements orogenies that have subsequently occurredin the Tertiary Period. Throughout the complex system, metamorphic rocks, schists, quartzites, and metamorphic limestones are the predominant rock formations, with massive intrusions of granite. The ranges form range forms a part of the vast belt of folding that continues southward into the Indochinese PeninsulaSoutheast Asia. The area was further uplifted in Quaternary times (i.The Ta-hsüeh e., the past 1.8 million years).

The Daxue Mountains are not a single range , but a series of north-south ridges drained by a series of tributaries of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) that flow north to south. The most important of the rivers are the Ya-lung and, farther west, the Chin-shaYalong to the west of the mountains and the Dadu to the east. The mountains are almost Himalayan in scale, with many peaks rising to more than above 20,000 feet (6,000 m100 metres). The highest peak of all, Mount Kung-k’a Gongga (Minya Konka), rises to reaches 24,790 feet (7,556 mmetres). Much of the highest land is covered with snow, and Mount Kung-k’a Gongga has a complex of glaciers. The snow line is between 1615,500 000 and 1918,000 feet (54,000 600 and 5,800 m500 metres). The mountains are still thickly forested on the eastern flank, with mixed forests of birch, hemlock, poplar, and aspen below about 8,200 feet (2,500 mmetres). From there to about 13,000 feet (4,000 mmetres) are fir and spruce forests. In the drier northern area, grasslands or mixed forests of pine and oak are common. Above 13,000 feet, the tree cover gives way to Alpine alpine pasture and grassland. The vegetation , however, and the climatic regime, however, vary greatly over comparatively small areas because of the influences of elevation and the terrain. The area has only scattered patches of cultivated land, mostly occurring in the alluvial fans of the wider river valleys. Wheat and corn (maize) can be grown up to about 9,200 feet (2,800 mmetres)in favourable positions; above that elevation, hardy oats, barley, potatoes, and beans are the chief crops.

The Chinese population is mostly clustered around the few towns located on the caravan trails that cross the area into the Tibet Autonomous Region. Most of the inhabitants are pastoral Tibetans. There is area to the west of the mountains is inhabited mostly by Tibetans; to the east are found both Tibetans and Chinese (Han). There is sometimes confusion about the names given to the various ranges. Usually the great range on the Szechwan Sichuan border between the Ta-tu and Ya-lung Dadu and Yalong rivers is called the Ta-hsüeh Mountains (meaning “great snow mountains”)Daxue Mountains, while the range beyond, between the Ya-lung and Chin-sha Yalong and Jinsha rivers, is known as the Sha-lu-li Shaluli Mountains. The southern part of this range, however, which is reaches elevations well over above 20,000 feet in altitude and is permanently snow-covered, is also known as the Ta-hsüeh Mountains or as the Mu-la MountainsMula Mountains.